Sarah vs the Happily Ever After
by MaloMoriQuamFoedari
Summary: Future one-shot. Sarah looks upon her life and sees something that she never would have envisioned, but wouldn't have any other way. An attempt at fluffy Charah family fun! Warning: There may be a few mild spoilers for Tangled involved...


**Sarah vs the Happily Ever After**

**Future One-Shot. Sarah looks upon her life and sees something that she never would have envisioned, but wouldn't have any other way. Fluffy Charah family fun! Warning: There may be a few spoilers for Tangled and… There may be a stork or two involved… :D**

**A/N 1: Soo… I had this thought, and it wouldn't leave me alone, so I decided to get it onto paper, hopefully leaving me free to get some proper, meaty, work done on my other story, Chuck vs the White Flag. I'm not sure where this came from, or why I thought of it, and I'm sure that there's probably a story or two out there that sound pretty similar to this, but, like I said, it just wouldn't leave me alone! Oh yeah, got no beta on this one, so all of the faults, flaws and assorted nonsensical babble belong, wholeheartedly to moi! **

**P.S. Don't tell anyone but… I don't own Chuck, or anything associated with Disney and/or Tangled. But you probably already knew that, didn't you?  
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><p>Sarah never thought she'd be here. The whole notion of her actually getting to this point in her life, the idea of her actually wanting this, would have made Sarah scoff in the face of anyone who suggested that she, the great Sarah Walker, member of the CAT squad, Langston Graham's wild card enforcer, would ever even contemplate the word motherhood.<p>

But all that seemed a lifetime ago, a distant memory, and Sarah was glad that this was the path life had led her down. Maybe Graham knew. Knew that she was reaching the end of her tether, so close to crashing and burning, she needed something, no... _Someone_ who could steer her to safety, not because it was his job or because it gained him some leverage in one part of the CIA or another, but because that was just who he was.

Sarah cast her eyes over her husband, his head drooping forward shadowing his dark circled eyes, mouth wide open, snoring lightly in his well-earned repose. The sight lifted her heart, a feeling she had difficulty describing to those who often asked how she'd fallen for the computer nerd who worked at the Buy More, earning a measly 11 bucks an hour. But in a way, Sarah kind of liked that, the idea that her love for Chuck was something so potent, it couldn't be put into words. He was her saviour and each and every day he found a new way to save her, whether it was remembering to put gas in her Porsche after she'd been on one of those hideously long business trips across the country, or not so stealthily putting that extra bit of basil into the one dish she felt comfortable enough to make, Spaghetti Bolognese, to give it that extra little Ellie-esque something.

Letting her eyes wander down to the tiny bundle in her husband's – even after two years of marriage she couldn't get enough of calling Chuck that – arms, the juxtaposition of the miniscule, delicate child in comparison to the size of Chuck's hands causing her to chuckle lightly under her breath. Despite the disparity in size between Chuck and his new daughter, the way he held her so gently yet securely in his arms, even in his sleep, let Sarah know that Chuck would never let anything hurt his fair haired girl, not that that was ever in question.

Leaning her head against the doorframe of the nursery, the colours of the walls painting a surprisingly artistic pastel rainbow of colours mesmerising in the dim glow of the Star Wars themed nightlight Morgan had bought them the moment he'd discovered Sarah was pregnant. To be honest, she'd thought that Morgan was the most excited by the news, excited by the fact he got to initiate another into his Star Wars/Sci-Fi league, eclipsing even that of Ellie and Awesome, who couldn't wait for Clara to get a cousin.

But that seemed like an eternity ago in itself now and although Sarah could be thankful that her pregnancy had been pretty uneventful, she'd dodged the metaphorical morning sickness bullet and hadn't really felt any ill effects from the tiny person growing inside of her, she missed the connection, intimacy between herself and her child during her pregnancy, that was, to steal a word from the Captain, awesome. Everywhere she went, people had told her how beautiful she looked, how much she looked to be enjoying carrying her child. And that was no coincidence, because she was more than happy, she was over the moon. To be able to give this gift to Chuck, to grow this life inside of her, the personification of their affection, was, much like their love, indescribable. She couldn't really care less how much people said she looked beautiful, Sarah just enjoyed showing off the more and more obvious outwardly physical sign that said she was Chuck's girl, forever and always.

Of course, not everyone had been so gracious in their comments on her pregnancy. John Casey had had a field day from the moment she started to get that all indicative, reality reaffirming baby bump. The oven, the walking incubator, the penguin and the crush-o-nator were just a few of the more memorable examples of Casey's nicknames for her, beginning in her second trimester, that Sarah treasured, to the astonishment of everyone around her, especially Casey. Because Sarah knew that this was Casey's way, however emotionally stunted, of showing emotion, of congratulating her and Chuck.

Sarah missed her partner dearly. Sure, they hadn't gotten along at first, but that was always the way with spies. Some people think that spies don't trust people because they're liable to burn you, to take what they want from you and then run. Well, that was partially true. But the real reason, Sarah had surmised in a random moment of epiphany one day, was not because they were scared of getting burned. It was because they were scared of being left alone. That the company, the camaraderie that came with being a 'partner', a part of a family, one that could make you fall in love with them so easily and then leave in exactly the same manner, scared them more than any amount of terrorists or explosives ever could. But Casey had become family, not just her spy family, but birthday presents, walking her down the aisle and Uncle Casey taking the kids to soccer practice when her and Chuck were too busy, type of family.

But Carmichael Industries had taken off from the ground running, their reputations preceding them, and Casey had been adamant about expanding the enterprise under another name, so, in his words, 'you don't keep all your eggs in one basket.' So, Casey was off in Seattle overseeing the set-up of Charles and Charles Ltd, their secondary base of operations just in case things down south went, well… south, which unfortunately meant him missing the birth of the newest member of Team Bartowski, his god-daughter. Sarah was thankful for that and for all that Casey was doing for them, giving up time with his own daughter to protect hers and the rest of her family. Not only was Carmichael Industries a good place to start building up the kids' college funds (not that they really needed to, thanks to Hartley), but it also allowed Sarah to keep active, however limited it was, in the spy world that had comprised the majority of her life up until this point, and the fact that Casey had embraced his role within the company so fully had led her perception of the hardened ex-NSA agent to evolve, yet again.

'_But maybe…' _Sarah mused, a wry smile escaping her already upturned lips, _'just maybe he sees things the same way I do.' _

It had taken Sarah a while to figure out, years, in fact, but the realisation of the truly important things in life was probably one of those things that you couldn't rush, and that everyone discovered in their own time. That at the end of the day, without family, without love, none of it, any of it, is worth anything at all.

Sarah continued her visual sweep of the baby's newly decorated nursery. The painting had been finished a couple of months ago, so the paint fumes were no problem, but the furniture was all brand new, just like the wee bairn, soft shades of pink interlaced between the vibrant yellows, blues, reds and greens that babies found so fascinating. Movement from the side of her eye, from Chuck's direction, caught her attention, a small hand rising from its former resting place to plant itself firmly around a lock of Chuck's overgrown, uncombed animal shapes, no doubt in a death grip that could never be broken by mere mortals, if Chuck, and experience, had anything to say about it. Sarah stifled a chuckle.

'_I like the animal shapes too, baby.'_ Sarah crooned gently, so as not to wake the sleeping duo. _'I like them too.'_

Feeling an odd tugging sensation on the leg of her pyjama trousers, Sarah, pulled from her reverie, stiffened, forcing her gaze to the source of the touch - a small chubby hand, its fingers lost in the folds of the fabric, attached to a miniature human being and owner of the biggest, bluest eyes Sarah had ever seen, with a sandy mop of curls sat atop his head to boot.

"Momma, up!" the tiny human squealed, tugging on Sarah's pant leg and jumping up to reinforce his point. "Up! Up!"

"Alright, Sam" Sarah replied, bending over pick the feisty almost 2 year old up onto her hip, smoothing his hair and kissing his chubby cheek in the process. Swooping the child round into his bedroom, the replica of the Tron poster Chuck's dad had given him all those year ago glistening in the late evening sunlight, the sound of a giggling child floated across the room.

"I thought you'd gone to sleep, little man." Sarah said, sitting down on Sam's new 'big boy' bed, complete with safety bars and the Dune inspired mobile he'd had since the day he was born.

"Big!" Sam shouted, jumping up and down as best as he could on Sarah's lap and within her grasp. "I'm big!"

Looking down into her son's eyes once again, Sarah couldn't help but laugh. She was going to comment that big boys didn't wear Star Wars pyjamas or play with toy figurines, but her thoughts inevitably rested upon good old Uncle Morgan. Although, arguments for Morgan being an adult, regardless of biological age, in itself could be one of this age's great debates.

"Okay, okay" Sarah soothed, trying to calm the little tyke down and avoid being the recipient of some lovely looking bruises on her legs. "You're a big boy now, Sammie."

Sam nodded his head furiously in reply, the velocity of each consecutive nod leading Sarah to momentarily believe her son had been kidnapped and replaced with a disturbingly lifelike weeble replica.

Sarah planted another kiss to the top of the squirming child's head once it had stopped bobbing to and fro, remembering how it seemed like yesterday they'd bought him home, as small and new – and quiet - as his sister.

"You are a big boy. You've got a little sister now Sammie, remember what me and Daddy said to you about your little sister?"

"Yup." Sam replied, his big blue eyes staring directly into hers, intense yet soft with an inherent smile within them, something Sarah hoped he'd never lose.

"It's called Lisa and it's small and I can't poke it or climb on it cos it will cry." The sentence was finished with a definitive nod of the head from the infant.

"She, Sammie, not it." Sarah smiled to her son, his serious tone and facial expression was just too adorable to keep a straight face to. Although she didn't ever remember saying anything quite along the lines of no poking or climbing on the sibling, Sarah was glad that Sam wouldn't be trying any of the most recent flavours of the month on her precious baby girl.

"Alright. Time for bed, now, Sam."

"." Sam half-screamed half-howled, his face turning the shade of an over-ripe strawberry in the process.

"Samuel Jacob Bartowski." Sarah warned, her voice the same as the one her grandmother had used on more than one occasion to Sarah herself.

"Tang… tan…tangreld. We watch tangreld now!" Sam struggled, ignoring Sarah's warning tone, finally settling on tangreld rather than his usual tongue-alled for his favourite Disney film to date, the one he knew Sarah couldn't say no to. Not even two and he already had her firmly wrapped around his little finger.

Sarah put on her best annoyed and angry face to make sure that Sam knew he was being 'treated', being let to stay up late and watch his favourite movie, regardless of the fact that it was one of Sarah's favourites too. Looking at her watch, Sarah sighed. It was 6 O'clock, bang on her son's supposed bed time, but looking at him now, jumping around the room like popcorn in a microwave, she knew that bed was the last thing on her little man's mind. Sarah was actually surprised at how agile Sam was, it didn't seem that long ago he'd learnt to walk and actually keep his feet for more than a few steps, but now, he was definitely a pro, and a budding rock climber, it seemed, for his Uncle Awesome.

"You can watch it once, young man, and then its bed. Understand Samuel?" Sarah asked, wanting to make sure that Sam had at least heard some of what she'd said, if not fully processed it. Once again, verbal communication was disregarded in favour of a vigorous head nodding, his curly sandy hair giving the effect of a heavy metal fan at a Metallica concert.

"Maximus, Maximus, where's my Maximus?" Sam shouted, running into Chuck and Sarah's room, pulling his stuffed horse toy from its home on the headboard behind the bed, after adeptly scaling the its Olympian heights.

Sarah tailed Sam into her room, DVD in hand and watched as her son struggled to lift up the duvet and hold his giant stuffed Maximus replica at the same time, the look of determination on his face disturbingly familiar to the one she'd witnessed in the mirror many times before. Except she usually didn't stick her tongue out. That must be a Chuck thing, Sarah surmised.

Popping the DVD into the player, and grabbing the remote from beside the TV, Sarah lifted the covers and snuggled down next to Sam who instantly moulded himself to her body, Maximus being squashed unmercifully between the two. Pressing play on the DVD remote, Sarah ensured that the box of tissues she kept on the bedside table was within reach before fully settling into movie watching mode.

Sarah couldn't help it. Every time she watched this movie, she cried. It was fine during her pregnancy, she'd just blamed it all on the hormones, but sooner or later, that excuse was going to become null and void, not that Sarah minded that much when it was just her, Chuck and Sammie…

'_Chuck, Sammie, Lisa and I'_¸ Sarah corrected, adding the newest addition to the Bartowski clan to those privileged enough to witness her cry herself into hysteria at a fictional, animated scenario.

But when Casey or Carina were there... Sarah told herself that she was never going to let Sammie watch this movie when Uncle Casey and Auntie Carina were round again. She'd never live that one down if either the ex-NSA agent or one of her former CATs caught her crying at a cartoon.

It was always at the same place. When Rapunzel and Flynn were on the boat, singing their duet. Sarah supposed that that song was probably the closest thing she could compare to her love for Chuck, and the reason for why it got her so darned emotional. At least she knew the film well enough now to anticipate the inevitable, unlike the first couple of times she'd seen it.

Just as she reached over to grab a couple of tissues from the near empty box, a tall figure, shadowed from the light in the hallway silently appeared at the door. Ice hit Sarah's veins like a tonne of bricks, her left arm tightening unconsciously around the dozing Sam, her free hand searching in desperation for any kind of weapon she could use to sub-due the invader - because keeping guns, knives and the likes around curious toddlers was always going to be a bad idea, the 30 foot rule had been put on temporary reprieve.

Her hands still searching in vain for something, anything to ward off the figure, the figure that was now approaching, with something in his arms… What was that?

A rifle? No, too small…

An Uzi? But that would be a pretty weird way of holding one…

A..? Was that a baby?

Looking up from the arms of the home invader, Sarah spied an all too familiar mop of unruly animal shapes just above those eyes that she got lost in every time they met hers.

"Hey," her husband greeted, his voice quiet so as not to wake the sleeping babes and weary.

"Hey yourself," Sarah replied in kind, the tension melting from her, a smile once again gracing her features as Chuck approached her, slowly and gently, with Lisa in his arms.

Chuck leaned over carefully, constantly conscious of his movements and their effects on the baby, placing a kiss delicately upon Sarah's lips, one that was much too short for Sarah's liking. Patting the free side of the bed to invite Chuck to join her, Sarah couldn't help but notice, for the second time today, how much the life that she was leading was completely different to the one that she'd seen for herself ever since the day her dad got put in prison and her fateful meeting with Langston Graham all those years ago.

_***All at once, everything seems different...***_

Chuck manoeuvred himself under the duvet, delicately handing Lisa over into Sarah's outstretched arms, Sarah relished the weight of her daughter in her arms, kissing the sleeping baby's head gently before grinning like a madman at her husband.

"Look what we did, Chuck," Sarah grinned, shifting her gaze between the faces of her growing family before leaning in towards Chuck in search of a more satisfying greeting kiss.

"Isn't it amazing?" Chuck replied breathily once the kiss had broken, grinning like the Cheshire cat - probably a mirror to her own, settling one arm around the small of her back, rubbing soft circles that never failed to relieve all the tension, whatever the source, she carried around with her throughout the day.

Sarah nodded in agreement, once again sweeping her gaze across her little family, her life, her everything, a contented sigh diffusing through her lips as she looked down into the eyes of the now waking baby. Lisa's brown eyes, tinged with an olive green were so reminiscent of her father's, but if Sarah had to be honest, they were probably closer to the shade of Ellie's.

"Welcome home, Lisa Eleanor Bartowski" Sarah murmured, Sam's chubby little hand coming round to hug her waist subconsciously as he drifted off into peaceful tangled filled dreams.

Never in a million years did she expect to be living a happily ever after. But, at least for now it seemed, that's exactly what she was going to do.

_***Now that I see you...***_

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><p><strong>AN 2: Well, I hope you enjoyed that! I've been fighting a bout of tonsillitis for the past week or so, and Tangled, my bed and laptop have seemed to feature heavily into my recovery regimen. As well as brandy. Lots of brandy. So I guess that's where that bit came from, and of course, the fact Tangled features the main-man, the multitalented Mr. Zachary Levi :D **

**As always, all reviews are more than welcome and really brighten my day. Thanks for reading folks, and don't forget to make sure you have a nice day/weekend. Ciao for now! **


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